Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

The Comedian Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 31, 2019

There's a certain art to being a kind of "Don Rickles"-esque comic, one who delights in engaging in a sort of contentious relationship with his or her audience. Case in point: my wife, who works as a standup comedian, opened a show for an older guy who reminded me of the sorts of Borscht Belt comedians you might see as supporting characters in something like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and he spent a lot of his routine just basically ranting and raving at everyone and everything, often out and out hilariously in my not so humble opinion. However, the funniest moment to yours truly came when some drunken lout in the audience started screaming at the comedian. Suddenly, his entire demeanor changed, and instead of an apopleptic "Lewis Black" type, he became a completely "concerned", even fawning, sort as he turned to the audience member and stated in a kind, grandfatherly tone, "I'm sorry, sir, are you new to heckling?", continuing on to give this now totally cowed guy in the audience some advice on how to properly do his "job". The Comedian charts a somewhat perilous course for a comic much like the guy I've just described, in this case a former television star named Jackie Burke (Robert De Niro), who has probably seen better days both personally and professionally, but whose contentious personality actually ends up getting him in some legal trouble.

The Comedian has a solid enough setup, and it's certainly graced with an incredibly adept cast, and yet for some reason it never manages to really register consistently. The film seems to want to be a rom-com of sorts, having Jackie bond with another Community Service type he meets after he has a little legal skirmish, and there are some low key if charming scenes between Jackie and a woman named Harmony (Leslie Mann). Stalwarts like Danny DeVito and Patti Lupone are on hand to provide some colorful comedic support, but the film kind of lurches in fits and starts and is perhaps too melancholic to develop much comedic momentum.

The Comedian Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Comedian is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics' line of BD-Rs, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Despite this not being a "pressed" disc, I noticed no real quality problems here. The imagery is typically sharp and well defined, with nice levels of fine detail and an accurate rendering of the palette. I wasn't able to track down any authoritative technical data on the shoot, but this looks digitally captured and I'm assuming things were finished at a 2K DI. The film was shot by the fantastic British cinematographer Oliver Stapleton, and he lights the club scenes in particular rather nicely. There are some occasional downturns in detail levels in a few establishing shots, some of which are aerials, where I'm assuming perhaps lower resolution cameras on drones may have been utilized.

The Comedian Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Comedian features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which derives some energy from some of the performance scenes, where elements like background clatter can spill into the side and rear channels. The urban setting also provides opportunity for realistically placed ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.

The Comedian Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 11:04)


• Backstage with The Comedian (1080p; 9:07) has some fun candid footage along with some brief interview snippets.


• The Comedian at AFI Fest: Q & A featuring Robert De Niro, Lesley Mann, Danny De Vito, and Taylor Hackford (1080p; 26:18)


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:33)

The Comedian Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Comedian was co-written by Jeffrey Ross, a name which will be recognized by those who like the Comedy Central Roasts of various performers (and one of those turns up in this very film). Ross might have done better to have simply made a standup film about himself, as some of this outing comes off as overly pretentious. There's also a somewhat uneasy mix between the rom-com aspects and a kind of more elegiac tone that attempts to deal with a character who may be past his prime. Technical merits are generally solid for those considering a purchase.